Space Between

3: The Unwanted

Ebony was the first to awaken. His eyes unveiled and stared at the dim ceiling decorated by messy cobwebs. He turned his eyes to the door, then behind his bed. A bright orange tail poked out of one of the bed legs. He turned his head behind the bed, where he saw Viridian. "Hey, fox. Wake up." he whispered.

Viridian was fast asleep on the floor, only cushioned by a woven blanket underneath. He'd curled himself up into a ball and his face was hidden inside.

Ebony reached his head out a little further and raised his voice a little louder. "Hey, it's morning. You ready to get up and ready? Viridian..?"

Viridian released his head from his chest, stretched his paw out onto the wooden floor, and let out a large yawn. "Hey, just tell me when you're ready and we'll head off." Ebony spoke calmly. Viridian opened his eyes to the wolf. He slurred his words.

"Ugh... morning already?" he stood up to the ground clumsily and reached for his knapsack and checked inside it. "Yep. Got everything I need." He walked over to Ebony as he brought his legs to the ground. "Do you need help?"
"Nope. I'm fine. Thanks though." he said.

Viridian raised an eyebrow and slid his mouth to the right.

"You must have a lot of strength. I mean, it's not been even two days, and you can walk easily get up like nothing happened to you."

Ebony gave a small chuckle. "Well, not to boast, but that's kinda what we wolves are known for. If you break us down we build back up even taller."

"Well then," Viridian replied, "I suppose I should be grateful walking with you."

The fox and the wolf walked out of the cottage and into the outside, where the breeze of the early dawn brushed softly against their fur. Soon after they headed into the deep red and yellow forest, and the dead leaves crinkled as they walked. Viridian turned his head back to the cottage which was quickly sinking into the leaves as they walked further. His face grew with slight worry.

"Will I be able to find my way back here? I've never traveled this direction before..."

Ebony mindlessly blew off his question. "Bah. We won't be going to far." he said. "If you want to return to this place just head straight. Your mind will recognize the place before you know it."

Viridian still worried, but he had a good feeling that Ebony knew where he was going. After all, all his essentials were stored in his knapsack with him. He had little to lose.

After a couple minutes of walking aimlessly into the unknown, Viridian questioned Ebony. "Um, so what do you do in your village?" he said.

Ebony continued to look straight and let out a short sigh. "In my village, we can be anything we want, as long as we're good at it and we make a contribution." He continued. "I hunt. Keep the food coming, making sure people don't die, that sort of thing. It's not an easy job, not very thankful either, but I manage somehow."

Viridian looked up at the wolf with a curious gaze. "Do you know people other than wolves?"

"Nope. Besides you, wolves are all I know."

"Do you have anyone that misses you back at home?"

"My mother and father died not too long ago from disease. I wish they were still here, because nobody wants to have their parents dead, but their last wish to me was that I stay strong and make myself useful, so I continue fulfilling their wish."

Ebony continued to speak, but seemed a little more unhappy as he went along. "And then..." he said. "And then there's my brother. He's pretty peculiar and troublesome. He hunts just like me, but I don't talk to him much. After our mother and father died, he just continued on as if nothing happened. He didn't feel any remorse or sadness. He just went along with his business like usual." Ebony stopped and turned his head to Viridian. "How about you? How were your mother and sister? Did you have anyone else?"

Viridian turned to the sky and gave a smile. "My mother and sister were the best people a fox could wish for." He happily dreamed on about his past. "If you needed help or you felt sad, they would give their all to help you."

"Anyone else?"

"Well, I used to have a friend but I don't remember her much." he said. "She was a wolf. My mother was good friends with hers. Of course people gave strange looks when they saw us, so we'd just travel in the woods together and we would play with the ants or collect sticks and build little bug houses."

"Well, that sounded like quite the good days." Ebony pleasantly smiled. "I'm sure it would be wonderful to see your family again."

Ebony squinted his eyes and squatted down a little as he leered directly straight. The deep forest was nearly to an end, it seemed. The trees stopped and the ground scooped into a pond, surrounded by bright sunshine-colored flora. "There it is!" Ebony jubilantly bounced his words.

The pond lay seemingly untouched and quiet. Short strands of sun crawled from above the trees and touched the still water. Pebbles and enormously large granite boulders lay peacefully sunken into the shallow waters. Ebony's eyes widened as he walked by the waters. He cupped his hands into the clear water and held it carefully by his chest.

"When I went hunting, this was always my checkpoint for getting back home." He admired the area around him. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Viridian gazed into the water and saw his wavy reflection.

"Wow."

Ebony panted loudly and set himself on a rock. He sighed in fatigue. "I - I think I'm going to rest for a bit. All this walking is tiring, to say the least..."

He turned to Viridian. "I'll be alright, I just need a couple minutes."

He closed his eyes and let the breeze follow into his ears. "Just feel this wind, will you?" he said. "When you feel it brushing up against you, you almost want to be taken to another world."

"Well, yeah. It does feel pretty good," he complimented. Shortly after, he turned to Ebony slightly impatiently. "but shouldn't we get going? I want to make it to your place as soon as possible. Ebony ignored his comment.

"It'll be alright, I promise you..."

Suddenly, Viridian felt a quick slap on his back. It felt almost painful, but for some reason his body didn't want to react to it. Soon after, he felt his legs disappear and his face felt numb. He collapsed head first into the cold water. His ears picked up steady walking footsteps across the ground, crinkling the leaves. He knew it wasn't Ebony -- it seemed to be the sound of four feet.

He heard a muffled voice which sounded like Ebony, and he seemed to be yelling. He then heard a quiet serious muffled voice answering. Viridian kept his right eye open, as the other side of his face was submerged, and he tried to clearly see the blurred splotches of reds and yellows.

He then heard one person give what sounded like a command, and the other person obeying. One pair of footsteps grew increasingly louder and both of Viridian's arms were thrown behind his back and his body was lifted up off of the water. When he stood up straight he caught a glimpse of the man's black gloved hands and a dirty tan cloth was thrown over his face. He was then guided in a direction.

His eyes could only stare down at his feet and the dirt, as he was forcefully pushed in different directions every couple seconds.

After a couple minutes, he heard a large metal gate being opened and he was pushed into a dark tunnel. The ground felt oversaturated with water, as the ground sloshed with every step he gave. He heard a man speak, and a closer man replying, and he heard another metal gate open. The dirty tan cloth was removed and he was thrown into a room.

His body fell into the muddy ground. He tried to regain his footing as the mud dripped off of his upper body.

A voice spoke in a nasty rumbling voice.

"Hey! Listen up!"